In mid-February, 2019, my daughter purchased a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek from Beck's Auto Group in Mason, Ohio. The person who handled all the financing and paperwork was Jack M.
The first sign of trouble was when the 45 day temporary tag was about to expire, and my daughter still hadn't received a copy of the title. This of course made it impossible for her to register the vehicle in her name, or purchase plates. When she called Beck's, Jack told her that it wasn't unusual and she should go to the DMV, get a second 45 day temp tag, and he would reimburse her the cost.
When the second temp tag was about to expire, and she still hadn't received the title, I called Beck's. I called on May 16 and talked to Jack. This was at 12:46 p.m. He said he would look into it and call me right back. When I didn't hear from him, I called again at 3:28, and he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about (he actually asked my daughter's name, which I had given to him during my first call). His memory jolted, he told me he had turned everything over to an associate, Ana, but she was on the phone. He said he would find out what was going on and promised to call me back, "In less than 10 minutes." When I didn't hear from him, I called back, only to be told, "Jack has left for the day." I asked to speak to the manager, and sales manager Steve P. got on the line. He said this had been passed on to him. He started going on about how the auction house where they bought the car had 21 days from when Beck's bought it to get the title to them, and that they hadn't received it yet. He said he tried calling the auction house, but they wouldn't get back to him, and the only thing he knew to do was to give my daughter a refund. So, Beck's sold my daughter a car that technically didn't belong to them, and to make it all go away they wanted her to bring the car back, pay her off, and that would be the end of it. He must have said five times, "It's not our fault." Really? It's not their fault? Who sold my daughter a car without a title?
It's interesting that the Carfax shows that Beck's bought the car from the auction house on December 10, 2018. If Steve was correct that the auction house had 21 days to get the title to them, that would have been December 31, an entire month and a half later before my daughter bought the car.
I called back the next morning and told him I'd give him until five o'clock or so to find the title. He said he would get back with me. To be fair, he did call back around noon to tell me that he had heard back from the auction house, and they were trying to get the title from the dealer THEY got the car from. So, the auction house got the car from a dealer who couldn't produce a title, Beck's bought a car from an auction house that couldn't produce a title, and then sold it to my daughter without producing a title.
When I didn't hear from Steve by 5:40 p.m., I called again. He told me that the dealer who sold the car to the auction house was trying to track down the lady who traded the car in to them, to see if she would be willing to get a duplicate title and sent it to my daughter. I asked if Beck's was going to pay for a rental car for my daughter to use. After a few minutes of ridiculous excuses and preposterous suggestions, I finally told him to forget it, she'll take the refund. I told him I expected Beck's to refund her entire deposit, plus the two car payments she'd made, reimburseme her for the temp tag AND the amount she paid to insure the car. He asked when we wanted to bring the car back and I told him Monday (May 20). He said he was scheduled to come in Monday at 9 a.m., but he might be a little late.
We arrived at Beck's at 10 a.m. and I asked to see Steve P., to which we were told, "Uh, Steve's on vacation." Nice. I told him I needed to see the person in charge. A few minutes later, the elusive Ana came out and said that she knew what was going on. I told her the amount we expected, but she said she had to talk to the owner to get it approved. A few minutes later, she came back and issued the check. Ana mentioned several times how none of this was their fault, and that they were losing money on the deal (as if we cared).
At no time has the owner called my daughter to apologize. And Jack? Well, he was there (we could see him in his office, which meant he could see us), but not once did he come out. He hid in his office, and Steve was M.I.A.
On the day my daughter originally bought the car, Jack said that he hoped we would leave favorable comments on line. There's a better chance of Amelia Earhart walking through my front door to offer me free flying lessons. I'm sure when Jack reads my comments he'll respond by calling me a liar, or he'll say I've gotten the facts wrong (that seems to be how he rolls), but the bottom line is Beck's sold my daughter a car without a title, which means it wasn't theirs to sell, and there's no disputing that. read more